Benito Cereno & Mark Englert Talk The Return of The Invincible Spinoff 'Capes'

Capes is back!

The comic Capes was originally published in the early 2000s as an Invincible spinoff by Robert Kirkman and Mark Englert, showcasing a new group of corporate heroes who protected New York from some of its most dangerous threats. Now, after Skybound Comics recently remastered the original out-of-print run, Englert is joined by Benito (Invincible Presents: Atom Eve) for a continuation of the original run. We spoke with the creative team about the book and what to expect.

What is it like to return to the Invincible Universe? Your original works existed in a world where Invincible wasn't a major streaming hit and not as much of a cultural phenomenon as it is today. Does it feel different? If so, how? Did you think the series would ever reach these kinds of heights?

Mark Englert: It’s great to be back to drawing characters I love and helped introduce to the world. A great aspect of returning to Capes after Invincible became such a smash success is that we now have a huge well of fan-favorite heroes and villains to feature in Capes. Not only that but because the story we all know during the Viltrumite War didn’t take place on Earth, we have a lot of leeway to do whatever and not interfere with the continuity of Invincible. 

In Hollywood, so many amazing scripts never get the go-ahead or never make it past a pilot! It’s a huge testament to the fans who showed up and supported everyone’s hard work. Robert, Cory, Ryan and the whole comics team made something so great and the cartoon is epic. I absolutely LOVE seeing Cory’s style translated to animation.

Benito Cereno: In some ways, it feels like I never left. Invincible is a book that has meant a lot to me since its debut, and so it looms large in my thoughts. It's a book/universe my friends created and then a bunch of my other friends and I also got to work on it. That's so personal and cool. Even though the last Invincible story I wrote prior to Capes was the Tick crossover in 2012, it doesn't feel like I've been away from it at all.

But yeah, the major difference is that now suddenly, people around the world know what Invincible is. I was wearing an Invincible shirt at a car rental place and the guy upgraded me to a better car for free because he likes the show – I didn't even tell him I was connected to the character at all. Now, as to whether I'm surprised Invincible has reached this level of fame, absolutely not. Robert came out of the gate with rockstar energy, and he convinced us all he was going to conquer culture with his book about a cussing pope. So no, not at all surprised he's now had two completely different books become the most popular thing on Earth.

How has your relationship with Robert Kirkman and the creative team behind Invincible been during the time away from the Invincible Universe?

ME: We’re all old friends and we always say hello whenever there’s a chance at a convention. I’m so darn proud of what they’ve accomplished. I’m stoked that no one seems to have fallen down a dark hole of fame and success, especially Robert. At this point, I’m convinced that if Robert got superpowers in real life, he’d still just sit at a computer and write all day.

BC: It's a little different than it was in the old days, but mostly because we don't live in the same city and work in the same studio anymore. Robert went to LA for The Walking Dead, and Cory followed soon after, while I stayed behind. Nowadays, we catch up when they're in town, and they come by the old studio, where now it's me and Nate Bellegarde (one of the artists on Invincible Presents: Atom Eve, among other things) working. Invincible comics are still being made on the premises!

Otherwise, we communicate more frequently through email, text, and phone calls. Or in the case of Cory, he texts Nate and then Nate tells me what he said.

Mark, did you ever expect to return to Capes? 

ME: Nope! I didn’t think I had the passion or stamina for doing comic book interiors anymore. It’s a marathon of concentration and consistency, especially penciling, inking and coloring the pages all by myself! 

While I toiled remastering the pages in Capes 1-6, I fell back in love with the medium in a way I never expected. What started out as a novel chore morphed into a passionate obsession and I’m so happy Kirkman gave into my constant nagging to “Make some more Capes!” Otherwise, I’m not sure what I would pour all this comic book-making energy into. 

Where does this story find Bolt? How does this continue to build on the Invincible Universe?

ME: Bolt is on the brink of losing his job and doing all he can to keep it so he can support his family. While he’s trying to prove himself to his new boss, annoyances and obstacles keep piling on and it’s fantastic to see him repeatedly having to dig himself out of a hole that just keeps getting deeper.  

BC: The first arc starts during the time of the Viltrumite War, roughly overlapping with the events of season four of the show, which was actually not intentional, just a nice coincidence. While Invincible and Omni-Man were out in space fighting Viltrumites, the Guardians of the Globe were working on expanding their forces to deal with the increasing threat of the super-terror organization the Order. As part of that expansion, two Capes members – Knockout and Bolt's then-partner Kid Thor – get recruited to the Guardians.

So Bolt has just seen the hero he trained up from a rookie get called up to what is seen as the “big leagues” in hero circles. At the same time, he gets relegated to the Capes Inc. night shift because of a big, public mistake he makes at the beginning of issue 7. All of this stuff starts shaking his confidence and making him wonder if he's really as good at being a hero as he used to think he was.

What can readers expect in future issues?

ME: I’ve been getting scripts that are just fun as hell to draw. That means a lot of punching. It also means a lot of funny back and forth between characters. Benito and Robert have some great story arcs up their sleeves involving a lot of characters and events that tie into Invincible. As a fan, I’m just as excited as the readers for cameos and even more so because I get to draw them!

BC: Hopefully lots! There's a lot more story to tell and a lot – like a LOT – of characters who could use some time in the spotlight. We're going to keep the book going as long as we can. In the meantime, we'll be returning to questions left hanging from the original Capes series, like what Big Brain is up to and where Meteor Master went. We'll be bringing in some new characters as well, like a new version of Sparrow (the original was killed by the Nazi in Capes #3) and another new character who should look familiar to viewers of the Invincible TV series. In general, I'd really like to dig into the weirder, unexplored corners of the Invincible universe (the stuff on Earth, at least – space stuff is getting covered in Battle Beast) and help fill in the history of that world.

Capes #7 — the first issue from the series’ return — is in comic book stores now! Capes #8 arrives on June 24th, 2026.